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Part of
Individual Differences and Task-Based Language Teaching
Edited by Shaofeng Li
[Task-Based Language Teaching 16] 2024
► pp. 228–260

Chapter 8
Teachers’ and learners’ beliefs about task-based language teaching

A systematic review

| University of Cambridge
| University of Queensland
| Manchester Metropolitan University
| University of Queensland

This chapter provides a systematic review of studies on learner/teacher beliefs in the context of task-based language teaching (TBLT). This review aims to identify the foci, conceptualisation, operationalisation of beliefs in TBLT, methodological characteristics, and major research findings. The results showed a lack of consistent conceptualisation and operationalisation of the concept of beliefs, and the studies have focused more on teachers’ beliefs about TBLT than learners’. The results also demonstrated a number of methodological issues such as lack of important background information about the participants and the study’s context, an excessive focus on English as a target language, an over-reliance on the normative approach (as opposed to the contextual approach), and a lack of clear and rigorus procedure for construct validation and data analysis. Despite these issues, the results show that TBLT research on beliefs appears to head toward an appropriate direction by adopting multi-method approaches and using diverse data collection tools. Also, the results show a promising picture for adopting and implementing TBLT in diverse contexts from both teachers’ and learners’ perspectives.

Keywords: TBLT, beliefs, systemamtic review, individual differences, perceptions
Article outline
  • Introduction
    • Second language (L2) beliefs as an individual difference variable
    • Task-based language teaching: Conceptualisation, principles, and issues
    • The current study: Teachers and/or learners’ beliefs in the context of TBLT
  • Method
    • Creating a pool of reports and searching articles
    • Coding and analyses
  • Findings
    • Overview of the corpus
    • TBLT research on beliefs: Foci, conceptualisation, and operationalisation
    • Methodological characteristics of TBLT studies on teachers’ and learners’ beliefs
    • Teacher/learner beliefs in TBLT research: Major findings
      • Teachers’ understanding of TBLT as a pedagogy
      • Teachers’ and learners’ attitudes toward TBLT
      • Factors affecting teachers’ implementation and views towards TBLT
      • Impact of training on teachers’ perceptions of TBLT
      • Other results
  • Discussion
    • Methodological issues of TBLT research on teachers’ and learners’ beliefs
    • Teachers’ and learners’ beliefs
  • Conclusion
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 6 June 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tblt.16.08dao
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Cited by (5)

Cited by 5 other publications

Ellis, Rod
2024. Chapter 12. Conclusion. In Individual Differences and Task-Based Language Teaching [Task-Based Language Teaching, 16], ► pp. 346 ff. DOI logo
Li, Shaofeng
2024. Chapter 1. Individual differences and task-based language teaching. In Individual Differences and Task-Based Language Teaching [Task-Based Language Teaching, 16], ► pp. 10 ff. DOI logo
Namkung, Yoon & YouJin Kim
2024. Chapter 7. A review of learner motivation and engagement research in task-based language teaching. In Individual Differences and Task-Based Language Teaching [Task-Based Language Teaching, 16], ► pp. 198 ff. DOI logo
Skehan, Peter
2024. Foreword. In Individual Differences and Task-Based Language Teaching [Task-Based Language Teaching, 16], ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Willis, Jane
2024. Chapter 10. Practitioners’ perspectives. In Individual Differences and Task-Based Language Teaching [Task-Based Language Teaching, 16], ► pp. 288 ff. DOI logo

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